The Aims and Objectives of Businesses

All Businesses can have….

• Mission statements

• Aims

&

• Objectives

…the main purpose of a business is stated in a….

Mission statement

Mission statements

…by reading a mission statement you can usually tell what a

business actually does!

Microsoft’s Mission statement

Bill Gates has said that Microsoft’s mission is….

“taking the internet, combining it with great software and turning that into the most

powerful tool of all time”.

Mission statements

You should be able to tell that

Microsoft is involved with the

internet, computers and

software development!

British Airway’s Mission statement

…is “to be the undisputed leader in world travel”

British Airway’s Mission statement

...from this you should know that British Airways operates in the travel market.

British Airway’s Mission statement

…but it is

not very clear about which type of

travel

(except for the fact there is the word ‘Airways’

in the Company name!)

…it is one thing to state a mission or a purpose

but another to achieve it.

To achieve its purpose, a business must have….

•Aimsthe goals the business wants to achieve

•Objectivespractical steps to achieve the goals

- usually quantified (measurable)

Aims

Aims….

In business the main aims are usually

• Survival

• Profit maximisation

• Growth

Many businesses have some or all of the following aims….

• making a profit

• providing goods and services to the local community

• surviving

• expanding (see ppt on growth)

• maximising sales

• improving quality of product

• improving quality of service

• providing a highly competitive service

• providing a charitable service

• providing a voluntary service

• being environmentally friendly

British Airways Aim

“being the airline of first choice in key markets”

Objectives

Objectives are measurable...

a business needs to identify specific practical targets it needs to

accomplish in order to achieve its aims.

These are called OBJECTIVES

Objectives are quantified...

So that success can be easily measured.

Eg British Airways could have an objective

“to increase sales of air tickets to business passengers by 5% a year

in Europe”

Aims Vs Objectives

Aims• are long term

• more subjective

• not easily measured

Objectives• are short term

• more objective

• easily measured

SMART

Objectives

SMART OBJECTIVESAre

–S specific

–M measurable

–A agreed

–R realistic

–T time constrained

Evaluating performance

Decide aims

Specify objectives

Work towards objectives

Check performance regularly

If unsatisfactory

Take corrective action

Adjust/review objectives

Change aims

How to check aims and objectives

The Aims and Objectives of Businesses